UNCTAD was called upon early to assist in the UNCSD Rio +20 preparatory process, specifically in the analysis of the trade and development dimensions of the transition toward greener and more equitable economies.

During the last two years, UNCTAD has been actively convening several expert meetings and produced quality research in order to promote a better understanding and unveil critical policy issues on the role of trade in green economy in the context sustainable development and poverty eradication.

To continue and deepen its contribution to the UNCSD Rio+20 Summit as well as in the implementation of its outcomes, UNCTAD is organising a series of side events. The organization of these side events has been lead by the Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch of UNCTAD jointly with key governmental, Intergovernmental, private sector and civil society partners.

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At a lunchtime workshop discussion on the topic "Missed Opportunity or New Beginning? Sustainable Development after Rio", held 28 June at UNCTAD headquarters in Geneva, speakers concluded that while there were some disappointments in many quarters with the final outcome document, the Rio+20 Summit had prevented a damaging reversal in some areas and established a follow-up process that could provide the basis for real progress.

On the eve of the official opening of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development -- Rio+20, a panel discussion was organized by UNCTAD on exploring new sustainable and socially inclusive biofuels experiences in developing and least developed countries at the Brazilian Military Institute of Engineering (IME) in Rio de Janeiro on 19 June.​

In the run up to the Rio+20 UN sustainable development summit, the United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), which is currently chaired by UNCTAD, organized a side-event on "ICTs: The foundation of our sustainable future" at the RioCentro in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June to focus attention on the catalytic role of ICTs in meeting development goals.​

In the lead-up to the UNCSD - Rio+20 summit, the first Global BioTrade Congress was organised by UNCTAD in Rio de Janeiro on 18 June, with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and other partners.​

The report recommends that African countries, latecomers to industrialization, set strategies for a form of economic progress that is less dependent on natural resource use and exports, thus avoiding the "grow now, clean up later" approach that has been employed elsewhere in the world.​